Who You Are is What You Remember
You are not just the sum of your experiences but the storyteller of your own life. Choose the memories you hold on to wisely
We are not defined by the sum of our experiences but by the stories we keep from the past. Your life is not merely a collection of events but memories meticulously chosen by you into the narrative you want to keep. “You are actually a collection of conflicting messages and signals and thought processes,” says Bruce Hood at the University of Bristol, UK, author of The Self Illusion.
I’m the values, assumptions, perceptions, beliefs, fears, and mental models I remember. My life is a sum of some of the experiences or things I’ve learned and kept repeating to myself for decades, across time. They will continue to influence the rest of my life. If I want a different narrative going forward, I will have to override many of those stories — the ones that no longer serve me. Playwright and author Oscar Wilde could not be more right when he said, “Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.”
Everything I remember from childhood changed the trajectory of my life. Memories of how I used to play freely, be curious about many things, and interact with family and friends. But memories are not static. They evolve into different…
